DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION BY ADOLESCENT MOTHERS ON BEHALF OF THEIR INFANTS DURING THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF LIFE.
Contributors: Rush University, College Of Nursing.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 120
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Infants of adolescent mothers are at greater risk from both a morbidity and a mortality standpoint during the first year of life than infants of mothers who are in their twenties. This research represents an exploratory study to investigate the determinants of health care utilization by adolescent mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 years of age on behalf of their infants during the first four months of life.

A theoretical framework for viewing health services utilization served as the behavioral model for this study. This model postulates that the use of health services results from a complex, interrelated set of factors including the predisposition of mothers to use services, the ability to secure services and the perceived need for health services. The main hypotheses for this study were that the amount of health service consumed by the mother would be a function of the three factors from the model and that the number of preventive visits would be significantly higher when the mother demonstrated a high perception about the influence of caregiving practices.

Forty mother-infant pairs were studied for a period of six months. A maternal interview was conducted during the last trimester of the adolescent's first pregnancy. Information about the 29 independent variables identified from the model were obtained via the interview. The Infant Caregiving Inventory was administered to the mother during the first postnatal clinic visit. The number of preventive health visits and immunizations, which served as the dependent variables, were monitored for a period of four months after birth.

Independent variables were examined with respect to their association with the dependent variables utilized the Chi-Square statistical test. Ten independent variables associated significantly with at least one of the dependent variables. These variables were primarily from the predisposing component, specifically health beliefs. A one-way analysis of variance test was utilized to identify possible differences between the Inventory items and key predictors. The Infant Caregiving Inventory failed to show any statistically significant associations with the health service outcome measures, however, some statistically significant differences were noted with regard to family size and income level.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, Section: B, page: 1622.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--RUSH UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF NURSING, 1988.

School code: 0591.